A Day At the Beach

Today Elise, Steven, and I went to the beach with some of my aunts and cousins. It is fun because several of my cousins have kids close in age to Elise and Steven, so they like to play together. We lasted two hours at the beach before I decided it was time to go home, which was actually longer than I would have predicted. The last time we went to the beach Elise was afraid of the sand and the water. So, when I asked her what she wanted to do at the beach today before we left, she said, "I want to take my shovel and my bucket and build a sandcastle, but I don't want to touch the sand or the water. They are yucky!" She couldn't explain how she planned on making a sandcastle without touching the sand, but when we got to the beach she demonstrated. She left her shoes on, and only touched the sand with her shovel and bucket. Whenever a speck of sand got on her, she had a meltdown, which I am sure you can imagine made for great fun for her mom. Steven was not a fan of the wind, and kept scowling at me every time I looked at him, as if to say, "Why would you bring me to such a dirty, windy place, mom?" However, everyone survived, and Elise even complained some when I said it was time to go, so she must have had at least a little bit of fun.

Elise building her sandcastle with cousins:

Steven saying he has had enough and is ready to go home:

Steven trying to get a little snack :-):

Elise doing her best to avoid any contact with sand or water: